The 60-year-old producer of soda ash - a raw product used in glass-making - is heading for turnover of more than $130 million this year - up 26 per cent in three years.

Penrice chief executive David Reid said the doubling of container glass production in SA in the past four years had been a boon for the company.
"We understand that wine bottle manufacturing in SA exceeds two million bottles a day and is expected to grow at a rate of 7 per cent or more for the next 10 years," Mr Reid said.

"Five years ago, Penrice sold about 30 metric tonnes of soda ash in SA, now it sells about 100 metric tonnes - in line with dramatic growth in wine exports."
He said Australia, China and India were the only countries seeing strong growth in container glass manufacturing.
Penrice's self-contained soda ash production process put it on par with China's output costs, Mr Reid said.
This process involved the Osborne manufacturing plant, steam power from the nearby Osborne co-generation plant, salt from its adjoining sea-water evaporation ponds at Dry Creek and limestone from Penrice's marble mine in the Barossa Valley.

It also has its own port and rail facilities next to the factory. The company's financial recovery from flat trading conditions is directly benefiting the environment, with "half our profitability" flowing back into ecological management, Mr Reid said.
Working with South Australia's Environment Protection Authority, Penrice has entered its third year of recycling its waste.

Mr Reid said the process - which reduced sediment flowing back into the Port River by 99 per cent - was in demand overseas.

He recently hosted a delegation from China and conducted seminars in the US. "We see dolphins swimming near the (estuary) outlet now - they seem to like the warm water," he said. Penrice was exploring the use of limestone waste in road building, landfill and environmental projects. "We could build the revegetated mounds along the railway line opposite the plant so the train traffic noise is cut right down," Mr Reid said. "This is another way we can bring some benefit to the community."

The company was negotiating with the State Government to supply some of the expected nine million cubic metres of landfill to reclaim low-lying land in the Port River basin. This land was expected to be required for industrial use during the next decade. Remediation projects at Penrice Soda's three sites have occurred since a private-equity buyout from US owners in October, 2001. Investment in developing the marble mine and salt fields as separate businesses - and the issue of shares to the 250-member workforce - has led to a series of expansions.

Penrice this year opened a $4 million crushing plant and mine expansion at Angaston. As well as soda ash, refined salt and limestone, Penrice makes high-grade sodium bicarbonate - which is in demand by Japanese food and medical companies.

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